Reprinted from The Washington Times, March 6, 1998
Jordan denies encouraging intern to lie
By Jerry Seper and Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Thursday denied telling Monica Lewinsky to lie in the Paula Jones sexual misconduct suit as details surfaced on President Clinton's sealed deposition in the case, shedding new light on his relationship with the former White House intern.
After his second day of testimony in the White House sex-and-lies grand jury probe, Mr. Jordan said he did not "encourage her to lie" and that his acknowledged efforts to find Miss Lewinsky a job and a lawyer "were not quid pro quo for the affidavit that she signed" in the Jones case denying a sexual relationship with the president.
"That's the truth, that's the whole truth, that's nothing but the truth," said Mr. Jordan in a statement to reporters after emerging from the U.S. District Courthouse in Washington.
"I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith, and we will see what time will tell us," he said, paraphrasing the Apostle Paul to summarize his testimony.
A frenetic day at the courthouse included a rare visit by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, who spent more than five hours before Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson with William H. Ginsburg, Miss Lewinsky's attorney. In the session, Mr. Ginsburg asked the court to enforce an immunity deal he says prosecutors already approved for his client. Mr. Starr denies he ever agreed to such a deal.
The judge's ruling -- which was not released Thursday -- could decide if Miss Lewinsky will undergo grand jury questioning. Afterward, Mr. Starr's associates and Mr. Ginsburg declined comment on the outcome.
But a report of what Mr. Clinton told Mrs. Jones' attorneys about his relationship with Miss Lewinsky consumed the day. In his Jan. 17 deposition, Mr. Clinton reportedly acknowledged that he discussed efforts at finding Miss Lewinsky a job with Mr. Jordan. However, the president said the search was initiated by his personal secretary, Betty Currie.
Mr. Jordan reportedly has told associates that neither Mr. Clinton nor his attorneys told him Miss Lewinsky could become a witness in the Jones case before he began looking for a job for her. After learning that she was subpoenaed, Mr. Jordan confronted Mr. Clinton, who told him he "never, no way" had a sexual relationship with Miss Lewinsky, according to a Feb. 21 article in the New York Times.
Mr. Jordan's attorney Bill Hundley said Thursday there was "no question" that Mrs. Currie acted on Mr. Clinton's behalf. Asked if Mr. Jordan knew from the start about Mr. Clinton's relationship with Miss Lewinsky, Mr. Hundley said: "No, but he did ask the $64,000 question. ... The president said no and Jordan believed him."
According to a Washington Post story published Thursday, the president also denied ever having sex with Miss Lewinsky -- which includes oral sex under the definition set by Mrs. Jones' attorneys.
Although it has been widely reported that the president and the former intern engaged in oral sex -- which Mr. Clinton reportedly believes does not fall under the biblical definition of "sexual relations" -- Mrs. Jones' attorneys gave the president a written definition of what they meant when they asked about sexual relations that included the sex act.
Mr. Clinton also acknowledged in the deposition that he may have met alone with Miss Lewinsky at the White House and that the two had exchanged gifts. And he discussed with her the possibility that she could be called in the Jones suit.
And he admitted having sex with former Arkansas state employee and nightclub singer Gennifer Flowers -- who has tape-recorded phone conversations in which he urges her to deny the relationship -- but said it occurred just once.
The new details appear to weaken the president's position. His admission of having sex with Mrs. Flowers while he was Arkansas attorney general and that he later asked an aide to find her a government job appears to add credence to Mrs. Jones' claims that he has used his elected offices to reward and punish women on the basis of whether they had sex with him.
And his acknowledgment under oath that he spoke with Miss Lewinsky about the likelihood she would be called to testify in the Jones case -- and that he discussed efforts to find a job for Miss Lewinsky with Mr. Jordan -- will likely pose political and legal problems for the president.
According to the Post report, confirmed by others sources Thursday, Mr. Clinton:
- Repeated his denial that he propositioned Miss Jones in a Little Rock hotel room in 1991. It was the first time he swore, under oath, that he did not try to kiss and fondle Mrs. Jones, as she claims, or drop his pants and ask her to perform oral sex.
- Denied making an unsolicited sexual advance on White House volunteer Kathleen E. Willey in the White House in 1993. While suggesting he embraced her and may have even kissed her on the forehead, Mr. Clinton denied her assertion that he fondled her breasts and placed her hand on his crotch.
- Denied having affairs with two other women, both of whom have also denied sexual relationships with him.
One is Shelia Davis Lawrence, widow of M. Larry Lawrence, whose body was recently exhumed from Arlington National Cemetery after it was revealed he fabricated a military service record. The other is Beth Coulson, whom then-Gov. Clinton appointed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals in 1987.
Mr. Clinton was not forced to answer sexual questions about another Arkansas woman, Marilyn Jo Jenkins, because she did not work for the state. Mr. Clinton has described their relationship as a friendship and Miss Jenkins has denied an affair.
A few pages of Mr. Clinton's deposition were made public in a court filing Wednesday in Little Rock. In the excerpt, the president denies directing then-Arkansas State Trooper Danny Ferguson to bring Mrs. Jones to the hotel room where his purported sexual proposition took place. Mr. Ferguson is a co-defendant with Mr. Clinton in the Jones sexual harassment lawsuit.
Mr. Ferguson's attorney, Bill Bristow, asked Mr. Clinton if he wanted to be introduced to prospective voters and taxpayers by Mr. Ferguson and other members of his security detail when he was governor of Arkansas.
"Yes, or a child, or anybody from the state," Mr. Clinton replied. "Of course I would."
Mr. Starr is investigating accusations by Miss Lewinsky on 20 hours of secretly recorded audiotapes that she had an 18-month affair with the president and that he and Mr. Jordan told her to lie about it in the Jones suit. He also wants to know if efforts to find the young intern a job after she had been named as a witness in the Jones case were aimed at guaranteeing her silence.
Mr. Jordan, a prominent Washington lawyer and White House insider who testified for nearly 12 hours during his two days in the grand jury witness box, helped Miss Lewinsky find a job at Revlon in New York, where he serves on the board of directors, and arranged for her to meet with a lawyer after she had been named as a witness in the Jones case.
That lawyer, Francis Carter, later helped her prepare the affidavit in denying a sexual relationship with the president.
A job search for Miss Lewinsky began about Dec. 5, after the president's attorneys had been told she was a witness in the Jones case. During the next week, Mr. Jordan called American Express, where he also is a director, and Young & Rubicam, an advertising firm. Later, he contacted Revlon.
Mr. Jordan, long considered a key figure in the Starr probe, met with the 24-year-old woman on four occasions and spoke with her at least seven times on the telephone during his extensive job search, including a Dec. 19 meeting at his office at which she told him she had been subpoenaed in the Jones suit. Three days later, her referred her to Mr. Carter.
The grand jury wants to know whether Miss Lewinsky refused to file the Jones affidavit until after Mr. Jordan found her a job. The document was signed before she met Dec. 28 with Mr. Clinton in the White House but was not filed until Jan. 7. The next day, Mr. Jordan contacted Revlon; within a week, a job was offered.Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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